Around the NBA: Tons of trades before free-agency period

Monday

Jun 29, 2009 at 12:01 AMJun 29, 2009 at 1:54 AM

Consider the NBA’s version of an arms race under way. The Spurs get Richard Jefferson for virtually nothing. The Cavs get Shaquille O’Neal on the cheap. The Magic get Vince Carter, though, for a steeper price.

Chris Beaven

Consider the NBA’s version of an arms race under way.

The Spurs get Richard Jefferson for virtually nothing. The Cavs get Shaquille O’Neal on the cheap. The Magic get Vince Carter, though, for a steeper price.

In a four-day span, three All-Stars, three guys who have played for Team USA, were acquired by teams with championship dreams.

Even Atlanta and Washington got into the act; the Hawks picking up talented Jamal Crawford and the Wizards getting Mike Miller and Randy Foye.

And that’s all before the free-agency period begins Wednesday.

What does it all mean to the Cavs?

The wide-open summer that was expected is about to kick into high gear and they will be looking to play all the angles they can to take advantage of it.

Cavs Head Coach Mike Brown called getting Shaq “more than a great start.”

But the Cavs will need a strong finish, too.

Here’s some of the things on their table that could produce a strong finish to the summer:

Figure out the ‘Andy Situation’

Forward-center Anderson Varejao is expected to become a free agent by Tuesday night. He will be walking away from $6.12 million on the last year of his contract.

The Cavs would like to keep him, but at a price somewhere near his current figure. If a team comes in with a big offer, it’s going to force them to make some tough decisions.

Take advantage of the mid-level

Cleveland’s biggest tool in free agency will be its mid-level exception to sign someone. As one of 24 teams with no cap space, this will be the best way for the Cavs to get a quality player.

Depending upon what this year’s salary cap is set at -- it was $58.68 million last season, and could drop a bit -- the mid-level will be worth $5.6 million to $5.8 million.

That could be enough money to entice Rasheed Wallace and give the Cavs a formidable frontcourt rotation. He could start at power forward next to LeBron James and O’Neal, with two of last year’s starters coming off the bench -- Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Varejao, if he’s still around.

The Cavs also could use the mid-level to pursue a restricted free agent, but that’s likely not enough money to land a guy they want. Versatile Milwaukee forward Charlie Villanueva is restricted, and he’s shown an interest in becoming a Cavalier.

But $5.8 million is probably not enough to pry him away from the Bucks, who figure to match an offer that low despite their tight financial situation.

Another exception

The Cavs also have their bi-annual exception to get a free agent. This will be worth about $2 million, and it could be enough to land a player such as Matt Barnes of Phoenix.

Barnes, who was once waived by the Cavs years ago, has gradually carved out a niche in the NBA. He became a nice role player for the Warriors before moving to the Suns and scoring a career-high 10.2 points per game last season. He also averaged 5.5 rebounds and 2.8 assists, while shooting 34.3 percent from 3-point range.

He’s a hard-nosed 6-7 forward capable of defending the taller guard-forwards in the league.

Barnes made $1.2 million last year and will seek a raise, but if the market’s tight, he may have to settle for a small raise.

Who else?

Expect the Cavs to talk with 6-6 guard Anthony Parker, who is unrestricted after being Toronto’s starting shooting guard the last three years.

After averaging 12.4 points and shooting 43.9 percent from 3-point range his first two seasons there, his numbers dipped to 10.7 points and 39.0 percent on 3s.

The Cavs had interest in Parker before Toronto signed him in 2006. He made $4.55 million last year. It’ll be interesting to see what the market is for him this time.

Not worries

Aside from what’s their next move, one of the big questions about O’Neal’s addition is how the Cavs fit him in on offense. Brown has not had a true low-post scorer in Cleveland.

The offense has been a constant work in progress since Brown arrived. It looked good much of last season before devolving to past flaws late in the playoffs.

“Obviously, with him being a special player and a guy that commands double-teams and is a load down there, we’re going to find different ways to get him the basketball,” Brown said. “But I don’t foresee us having to do an overhaul of our offense or make major changes. We’re going to get the ball into the post ... (and) we feel like we have a system he can fit into.”

To read more about the Cavs, visit Chris Beaven’s blog at www.cantonrep.com/blogs

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